Charleston SC MM 469 ICW

An early start yet again! After passing Hare and Rabbit Island on Winyah Bay NH enters the Estherville Minim Creek where there is a very unusual bridge.

It’s a swing bridge that opens by being pushed across the ICW by a small boat. As you can see the bridge’ s name is Miss Ellie. This section of the AICW was very shallow in certain areas with the water level extremely low. Many boat lifts were simple in the mud so you certainly could not take your boat our from the dock. It was a lovely cruise and Nana was able to do a little yoga while underway. So many islands along the way Minim, Crow, Murphy’s, Cat, Cedar, Bird, Capers, Dewees, Sullivan’s, Eagle, Isle of Palms and James. The blue herons appear creeping along the marshes, standing tall on the pillars and flying low over the waterways. The dolphin also frolicking along the bow of the boat.

This is the Ben Sawyer Swing bridge which is now closing after opening for a sail boat. It is 31 feet so NH can get underneath easily. It is about four miles from Charleston which is where we will dock for the evening. Safe Harbor Charleston is a huge marina with a mega dock where they can accommodate very large mega yachts over 200 feet. They are building another area for yachts 400 feet! From May to June and Oct to Nov these docks are all fully reserved. They provide an hourly shuttle to anywhere you need to go up to 7.45 pm. Nana and Nandad of course took advantage of this service and stocked up again with groceries for the last leg of our journey. We have approximately 250 miles to go and would like to be at Tiger Point Marina - which is on Amelia Island near Fernandina Beach up Eagans Creek - by November 13 th. Nana is excited to be on the final leg of our journey and is ready for some Nana time. We will fly back to Boston November 16th. 

Although NH does not cruise under the Arthur Ravenel JR. Bridge it is pretty magical looking from the water. The bridge connects downtown Charleston to Mount Pleasant. Although we do not have time to explore Charleston on this visit it is a wonderful area and definitely worth staying a few days. We enjoyed watching the sunset , strolling the mega dock and had a wonderful dinner onboard.